Estonian Interior Ministry proposes to recognize Moscow Patriarchate as a terrorist organization
Kyiv • UNN
The Estonian Interior Minister proposes to recognize the Moscow Patriarchate as a terrorist organization in order to ban its activities in Estonia because of its support for Russia's war against Ukraine.
Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets intends to propose to the Riigikogu to recognize the Moscow Patriarchate as a terrorist organization in order to ban its activities in the country. This is reported by ERR, according to UNN.
Details
A representative of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC Moscow Patriarchate) said on Tuesday that they are not directly subordinate to the Moscow Patriarch and cannot be responsible for statements made in Moscow in support of Russia's war against Ukraine. Thus, the local church essentially rejected Laenemets' demand to withdraw from the subordination of Russian Patriarch Kirill.
According to Lauri Laenemets, based on the expertise of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the assessment of the Security Police that has just been received by him, he, as Minister of Internal Affairs, has no choice but to take measures to break the ties between the GOC of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Given the current context, I, as the Minister of the Interior, have no choice but to propose to the Riigikogu to declare the Moscow Patriarchate a terrorist organization and a terrorist supporter. As a result, the Minister of the Interior will be able to apply to the court and propose to terminate the activities of the church organization operating here. This will not affect the parishioners, it does not mean that the churches will be closed, but it does mean that ties with Moscow will be severed,
He emphasized that Estonia should understand that today the Moscow Patriarchate is subordinate to Vladimir Putin, who is, in fact, in charge of terrorist activities in the world.
